A method and call center system monitors performance of agents in a call center. A call is received within a call center and has a plurality of agents, an automatic call distributor (ACD) server for routing calls to individual agents based on the proficiency skills of the agents, an interactive voice response (IVR) server, and in one aspect, a structured query language (SQL) server having a historical database. The requested type of service is determined and the call routed to an agent based on the requested type of service. After the call between an agent and caller is completed, the call is transferred to the IVR server and responses are solicited from the caller to allow the caller to rate the performance of the call center and agent. In the event that a response is indicative of a poor rating of an agent in the call center, the caller is transferred to a supervisor at a supervisor stations for personal questioning of the caller.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method of monitoring performance of agents in a call center comprising the steps of: receiving a call within a call center having a plurality of agents, an automatic call distributor (ACD) server for routing calls to individual agents based on the proficiency skills of the agents, and an interactive voice response (IVR) server that is functionally integrated with said ACD server; determining the requested type of service for the call; routing the call to an agent based on the requested type of service; after the call between an agent and caller is completed, transferring the call to the IVR server and soliciting responses from the caller to allow the caller to rate the performance of the call center and agent; and in the event that a caller response is indicative of a poor rating of an agent or call center, transferring the caller to a supervisor at a supervisor station for personal questioning of the caller.
2. A method according to claim 1 , and further comprising a supervisor computer located at the supervisor station that receives status data at predetermined time intervals from said ACD server relating to the real time status changes of agents and incoming calls for real time analysis by the supervisor and generating real time reports.
3. A method according to claim 2 , wherein said real time reports comprise real time reports of calls answered, calls abandoned, talk time, agent status, calls in queue or agents in queue.
4. A method according to claim 3 , and further comprising the step of displaying said real time reports for viewing the performance of groups of agents that are categorized by teams of agents, agents, DNIS, or agent skill.
5. A method according to claim 2 , wherein the predetermined time intervals for forwarding status data from the ACD server is about 1-5 seconds.
6. A method according to claim 2 , wherein the supervisor computer includes a monitor for displaying the real time reports in a graphical user interface.
7. A method according to claim 1 , wherein said step of determining the requested type of service for the call comprises the steps of receiving the call within the IVR server and soliciting responses from the caller to determine a requested type of service and what skills are required for answering a call.
8. A method according to claim 5 , and further comprising the step of routing the call to an agent that has the highest proficiency level for the skills required for answering the call based on the requested type of service.
9. A method of monitoring performance of agents in a call center comprising the steps of: receiving a call within a call center having a plurality of agents, an automatic call distributor (ACD) server for routing calls to individual agents based on the proficiency skills of the agents, an interactive voice response (IVR) server that is functionally integrated with said IVR server, a structured query language (SQL) server having an associated historical database for call center statistics, and a supervisor computer located at a supervisor station that is in communication with said ACD server and SQL server and associated database; determining the requested type of service for the call to determine what skills are required for answering the call; routing the call to an agent that has the highest proficiency level for the skills required for answering the call based on the requested type of service; after the call between an agent and caller is completed, transferring the call to the IVR server and soliciting responses to allow the caller to rate the performance of the call center and agent, wherein said answers are numerical entries in response to rating questions from said IVR server; in the event that a numerical entry is indicative of a poor rating, transferring the caller to a supervisor at the supervisor station for personal questioning of said caller; and forwarding from the SQL server and associated historical database any historical statistical data relating to the agent that handled the transferred call and associated call center operation.
10. A method according to claim 9 , wherein said supervisor computer receives status data at predetermined time intervals from said ACD server relating to the real time status changes of agents and incoming calls for real time analysis by the supervisor and generating real time reports.
11. A method according to claim 10 , wherein said real time reports comprise real time reports of calls answered, calls abandoned, talk time, agent status, calls in queue or agents in queue.
12. A method according to claim 11 , and further comprising the step of displaying said real time reports for viewing the performance of groups of agents that are categorized by teams of agents, agents, DNIS, or agent skill.
13. A method according to claim 10 , wherein the predetermined time intervals for forwarding status data from the ACD server is about three seconds.
14. A method according to claim 10 , wherein the supervisor computer includes a monitor for displaying real time reports on a graphical user interface.
15. A method according to claim 9 , wherein said step of determining the requested type of service for the call comprises the steps of receiving the call within the IVR server and soliciting responses from the caller to determine a requested type of service and what skills are required for answering a call.
16. A method according to claim 15 , and further comprising the step of routing the call to an agent that has the highest proficiency level for the skills required for answering the call based on the requested type of service.
17. A call center system that monitors agent performance comprising: a call center switch for receiving incoming calls; a plurality of agents for receiving incoming calls; a structured query language (SQL) server having a historical database of call center statistics; an interactive voice response (IVR) server for soliciting responses from a caller relating to a requested type of service and for caller rating of an agent and the call center; an automatic call distributor (ACD) server connected to said call center switch and functionally integrated with said IVR server for routing calls to the plurality of agents; and a supervisor station in communication with the ACD server and SQL server; wherein after a call is completed between an agent and the caller, the call is transferred to the IVR server for soliciting responses from the caller as to the performance of the call center and agent, wherein the answers are numerical entries in response to rating questions, and in the event that a numerical entry is a predetermined value indicative of a poor rating, the call is transferred to the supervisor station for personal questioning of the caller by a supervisor and supervisor analysis of historical statistics that have been retrieved from the historical database.
18. A call center system according to claim 17 , wherein said supervisor station includes a supervisor computer that receives status data and historical statistics at predetermined time intervals from said ACD server and SQL server relating to the real time status changes of agents and incoming calls for real time report generation and historical analysis of the agent and call center by the supervisor.
19. A call center system according to claim 18 , wherein said real time reports comprise real time reports of calls answered, calls abandoned, talk time, agent status, calls in queue or agents in queue.
20. A call center system that monitors agent performance comprising: a call center switch for receiving incoming calls; a plurality of agents for receiving incoming calls; an interactive voice response (IVR) server for soliciting responses from a caller relating to a requested type of service and for caller rating of an agent and the call center; an automatic call distributor (ACD) server connected to said call center switch and functionally integrated with said IVR server for routing calls to the plurality of agents; a supervisor station in communication with the ACD server and SQL server; wherein after a call is completed between an agent and the caller, said call is transferred to said IVR server for soliciting responses to allow the caller to rate the performance of the call center and agent, and in the event that a response is indicative of a poor rating, the call is transferred to the supervisor station for personal questioning of the caller by the supervisor and generating real time reports.
21. A call center system according to claim 20 , wherein said supervisor station includes a supervisor computer that receives status data at predetermined time intervals from said ACD server relating to the real time status changes of agents and incoming calls for real time analysis by a supervisor.
22. A call center system according to claim 21 , wherein said real time reports comprise real time reports of calls answered, calls abandoned, talk time, agent status, calls in queue or agents in queue.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
February 25, 2000
August 5, 2003
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